Carbon monoxide, hot tarmac, constant (red) traffic lights, the impatient motorist you just passed for the fourth time on the same stretch of road, not to mention playing Leapfrog with a bus due to the bus stops making his average speed the same as yours......

Geez, how do I cope with the fresh air, sunshine, rolling vineyards and precious little traffic............

open roader wrote:Pity those in the big smoke........ Don't know what they are missing out on.......

hehe - well yes we do...but we also know what we are not missing out on, like decent paying jobs, shopping, healthcare, and basic community and social services - we even have banks in the city. Lots of 'em.

So, don't pity us, we'll pity you!

Last edited by RonK on Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.

open roader wrote:Pity those in the big smoke........ Don't know what they are missing out on.......

hehe - well yes we do...but we also know what we are not missing out on, like decent paying jobs, shopping, healthcare, and basic community and social services - we even have banks in the city. Lots of 'em.

And a social life, preferably with people who can read.

Going by the descriptions of some new cycle club members who have returned to Melbourne after several years trying to make a life in a small Tassie town. They found very little in common with the locals, with their cycling and other social interests.

open roader wrote:Pity those in the big smoke........ Don't know what they are missing out on.......

hehe - well yes we do...but we also know what we are not missing out on, like decent paying jobs, shopping, healthcare, and basic community and social services - we even have banks in the city. Lots of 'em.

And a social life, preferably with people who can read.

Going by the descriptions of some new cycle club members who have returned to Melbourne after several years trying to make a life in a small Tassie town. They found very little in common with the locals, with their cycling and other social interests.

I guess there is more likelihood that you'd find people that you can relate to in any city, but I don't think that you can say that you won't find people that you can relate to in every country town, nor that people in country towns can't read.

For sure. Just relating one person's experience. They were exceptionally glad to be able to come on a 50km bike tour with our club and sit with us (many in lycra) at a cafe, enjoying good coffee and food. When I mentioned to this chap about BNA and the Tasmania forum, he said "Oh, but computers. You need people who can read to use them" . He was not casting aspersaions on his own reading skills.

Got to ask, Pete - how many other keen cycle tourists do you meet/ride with in Darwin? More than fifty? Twenty?

We did bump into a Darwin guy, riding his own home-built red recumbent in Lynhurst, SA. He was heading for Adelaide then keen to get back to Darwin. A guy with long, dark hair called Chris, who has worked in media, music and with Koories, a very helpful bloke. Maybe you know him?

il padrone wrote:Got to ask, Pete - how many other keen cycle tourists do you meet/ride with in Darwin? More than fifty? Twenty?

Fair question. Answer = not many. I'm the new chair of Bicycle NT and, although it sounds cool, we're a heartbreakingly small organization. Last year, we were essentially four active people and it was hard to achieve anything meaningful. Things are looking promising this year with a few more people turning up to meetings as well as a bit more strategic planning, but we'll have to wait and see.

The Darwin Cycling Club and the Darwin Offroad Cycling Club (DORC) are decent sized organizations with plenty of members on their rides. I need to put more effort into attending their events, not just to network but because it'll be fun!

We were active on Warmshowers.com for a while there and had plenty of interest; Darwin seems to be a bit of a hub for cycle tourists either circumnavigating Australia or heading to/from Asia. We had some good and bad experiences with it though, and my wife is studying at the moment so it's not appropriate to have unknown guests, particularly if they're d*ckheads.

Darwin is really transient too, which is both good and bad. I got really jack of it a while back; it's hard saying goodbye to good friends and then have to put the effort into making new ones, but I've reconciled now and am happy with the friends I make. There are some great people, and they're usually around for at least a year. I'm starting to get a few people bringing their bikes over to my workshop and we hang out, fix bikes and talk sh*t. And when I told a few people that I was planning on riding out to Walker Creek, I ended up having 2 others invite themselves to come along.

il padrone wrote:We did bump into a Darwin guy, riding his own home-built red recumbent in Lynhurst, SA. He was heading for Adelaide then keen to get back to Darwin. A guy with long, dark hair called Chris, who has worked in media, music and with Koories, a very helpful bloke. Maybe you know him?

Yeah, I've seen him around. He looks like a dude, but I've never had a chat with him...

CommuRider, Cheers for the ID of the humbugs. Please enjoy a few more truly rural shots.

The joy of riding through herds and flocks, aka Long Paddock grazing, on quiet back country roads.

A young muscle builder ... Carkella Station, NSW.

A young family enjoying a roadside picnic on Coodravale Road, NSW.

Rural traffic jam, Woolcara Road, NSW.

Rural riding certainly is hard to beat. If I can recommend a book for bush and rural travellers, 'The Bicycle and the Bush' by Jim Fitzpatrick is more than a history lesson. It is an inspirational account of the Overlanders.

Warren.

Last edited by WarrenH on Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:37 am, edited 1 time in total.

"But on steep descending...Larson TT have bad effect on the mind of a rider" - MadRider from Suji, Korea 2001.

Work finished at lunchtime today, found myself with a whole half day off...... what to do?

Went home for lunch, got on the bike and rode up over Benny Hill, into Lorne, along the Great Ocean Road for a further 22km for a lazy 60 odd km ride........ bugger all traffic, mild sunshine and clear clean air. Had my partner pick me up at Aireys Inlet, arrived back home in plenty of time to shower, snack, clean (admire) the bike off and hit the PC with this post all well before sundown........

Try doing that in the city from a 12:45pm start..... ps full apologies for the crapola quality of the mobile phone pics

martinjs wrote:Wouldn't need open cut mines or coal seam gas wells if the cities didn't eat up so many resources.

Hehe - well we know you country folk don't have the power on yet, but it'll get to you one day. Phone to - maybe.

But that coal and gas - all gets exported mate.

Were do you think the power comes from? and the food and the water? yes indeedy the country. I know about cities, lived in Melbourne for just short of 15years, and worked night shift, saw the city going and going and going, the cities never stops, if the coal and gas doesn't go to Aussie cities, guess what? Goes to overseas cities, still a city. Great place to visit but this little black duck won't be living there ever again.

Love it when the shops close and we can kick back and relax, no 24 hour living here, thankfully. Horses for courses, but if the cyclists who care about the environment are really serious, the should first and foremost look at the pure waste and energy consumption of the cities.

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